Daily Devotional with Oswald ChambersBased on the Book: 'My Utmost For His Highest' (The
Golden Book of Oswald Chambers,1935) by Oswald Chambers

The Staggering Question

"He said to me, ’Son of man, can these bones live?’ " - Ezekiel 37:3

Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is
only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” ( Ezekiel 37:3 ). Never
forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a
little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be
done.”

It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and
mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with
God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than
believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The
degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has
done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization
of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for
anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The
degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of
personal spiritual experience.

“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves . . .” ( Ezekiel 37:12 ). When God
wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it
to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you
are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at
work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as
you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and
“I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” ( Romans 7:18 ).
God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart
from His grace.